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ESPL 2021 Announced Top Eight Franchise Teams

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3 years ago

August 16, 2021

India’s first-ever franchise-based Esports league, the Esports Premier League (ESPL) has finalised the top eight teams as the ultimate face off in the inaugural edition of the nation-wide Esports league is set to begin on August 16. State ministers from seven regions launched their respective franchise team names, logos, and jerseys.

While the Esports industry has been in quest to gain legitimacy and recognition from the government, involvement and acceptance from the government at this level to the tournament is a giant stride for Esports industry in India.

“To have the best gamers from across the country representing final eight franchise teams as well as their team’s official jersey being unveiled by the state ministers is a matter of absolute honor and pride. Even in its inaugural edition, ESPL has received exceptional response from the Esports community, the players and the audience,” said Mr. Vishwalok Nath, Director, ESPL.

Here is the complete list of Ministers and personalities that unveiled teams representing their respective states:

𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐡𝐢 𝐃𝐮𝐤𝐞𝐬 : 𝐌𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐒𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐚, 𝐇𝐨𝐧’𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐡𝐢
𝐌𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐢 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐬 : 𝐌𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐥 𝐊𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐫, 𝐇𝐨𝐧’𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 & 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐭𝐫𝐚
𝐊𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐊𝐚𝐢𝐣𝐮𝐬 : 𝐌𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐣 𝐓𝐢𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐲, 𝐇𝐨𝐧’𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 & 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬, 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐥
𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 : 𝐌𝐫 𝐊 𝐂 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐆𝐨𝐰𝐝𝐚, 𝐇𝐨𝐧’𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 & 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐚
𝐇𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐇𝐲𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐬 : 𝐌𝐫 𝐕 𝐒𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐮𝐝, 𝐇𝐨𝐧’𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 & 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐚
𝐏𝐮𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐛 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐬 : 𝐌𝐫 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐆𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐨𝐝𝐡𝐢, 𝐇𝐨𝐧’𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 & 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬, 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐮𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐛
𝐑𝐚𝐣𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 : 𝐌𝐫 𝐀𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐤 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐚, 𝐇𝐨𝐧’𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 & 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬 (𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞), 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐚𝐣𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧

The final eight franchises teams and the players were chosen through a draft process. And the teams that are qualified through various stages of the competition for the draft process include BADGE99, Total Gaming, 4 UNKNOWN, TSM FTX, No Chance, AFF Esports, Head Hunters, and TWO SIDE GAMERS. Each of these teams were picked to represent a city team and in the final stage during the draft, popular influencers and Esports gamers were roped in to conduct the process.

The eight franchise teams are Punjab Paladins, Chennai Celestials, Delhi Dukes, Hyderabad Hydras, Kolkata Kaijus, Rajasthan Reapers, Mumbai Marshals, and Bangalore Ballistics. Below is the complete list of players of all these teams who will represent the respective state teams:

BADGEE99 will represent Kolkata Kaijus
Total Gaming will represent Hyderabad Hydras
4 UNKNOWN will represent Rajasthan Reapers
AFF Esports will represent Delhi Dukes
TWO SIDE GAMERS will represent Bengaluru Ballistics
No Chance will represent Chennai Celestials
TSM FTX will represent Mumbai Marshals
Head Hunters will represent Punjab Paladins

ESPL 2021, which began on June 16, will see the athletes competing in the popular battle royale game Free Fire as the winners will have INR 25 lacs prize money to win.

This final phase has lot more in store and a spectacle series of matches and exciting live-action will be streamed on Disney+ Hotstar, Free Fire official streaming platform Booyah and Malayalam OTT platform Koode alongside official YouTube and Facebook channels of India Today and Aaj Tak and its websites.